Seth Brennock blog

Something From Nothing written by Phoebe Gilman is a child’s book about a blanket that gets old and changed into something new. This is done many times until there is no more material to work with.  As the boy named Joseph grows and the blanket wears out, the old tailor recycles it, in succession fashioning a jacket, a vest, a tie and, finally, a cloth-covered button. Finally Joseph goes back to the tailor and says that he lost the button, at this point the tailor can’t make it into anything.  The tailor who is joseph grandfather tells him, “Joseph, I can’t make something out of nothing.” I chose this book because it was my favorite book growing up and it was read to me when I was little.

This Jewish folktale is a cute way of explaining that you as things go away you cant get them back. This childs story uses area to show that as the area of something decreases there is less material to utilize. As josephs blanket turned into a jacket, then a vest, the things his grandfather could make became smaller and smaller items. The area of these items diminished in as the size of the items and things his grandfather could make got smaller.

I think that a childs book is a good way to teach these basic math ideas. Although it is not a complex theory or idea, it is important to know that as things get smaller the area decreases. Just learning basic concept while maybe not even realizing the child is learning is an essential part of children stories.